St Petroc is said to have come from Wales and landed in the Camel estuary at Padstow (Pedroc-stowe) now named after him. A local monastery called Lanwethinoc had already been founded there by a local holy man Wethinoc. St Petroc found for himself a little hide-away at Little Petherick. But he also has several dedications on the south coast of Devon, one in Somerset and others in Wales and Brittany. His relics were moved from Padstow to Bodmin for safe keeping in troublesome times. The casket which kept them can be seen in Bodmin church. It was hidden in a niche at the Reformation and not found again till the 19 century.
In Bodmin a lovely holy well once dedicated to another local holy man St Guron, spills water out onto the street. When St Guron moved further on for the sake of solitude St Petroc founded his own monastery. St Petroc’s own well is not far away in a park. There a statue of the Mother of God was found hidden away till it was found in the 20 century and now repainted.
There is the head of an early cross by the church porch in Padstow.
